It had been his high fortune to have his lot cast in the vicinity of supreme genius.

With awe he realised that he was looking upon the passing of the very great....

There had never been such a man.

There could never be such an one again.

So patient and enduring, so wise in all great matters, so potent to inspire a multitude, so secure in his own soul....
Fools would chatter about his being a son of the people and his career a triumph of the average man.